Moved Discussion from 1975' F50 Maple $1800 plus shipping - cleanup

[Muckman]

This was a guitar I picked up by chance, last summer. It had an ugly scratch across the top and significant cowboy chord wear on the frets. I bought a nice flight case for the shipping and sent it to Tom "Fixit" to get her a clean bill of health. The neck angle and action are great, frets are brand new, along with the saddle and nut. I played it this morning and noticed the very first fret, only on the low E, has some buzz, slight when you play an F chord can be heard clearly playing the low F by itself. The neck relief is good, entire setup is just as Tom sent it back to me. He stabilized a small top crack, also he cleaned up and sealed the scratch before giving her a nice clean and buff. There is a small section of fretboard trim that was professionally replaced at some point prior to me owning it and it has some small cracks in the FB binding from shrinkage, though none is missing. The neck is a laminated maple with some flame to it and looks to have been stained to a mahogany color at the factory. Minus the repaired cosmetic damage on the top and binding cracks, the guitar is in great condition cosmetically. The only listings I could find for these, currently, were in Japan for $3500 and there was a 77' listed here for $1950 a while back. My asking price is what I have in this guitar, including the case and the repair work.

 

[HeyMikey]

Nice price for an almost 50 year old F50 that needs nothing.

My suggestion for the low E buzz is to stick a very thin shim (like a piece of sanded credit card) under the saddle for the winter. Sometimes when the action is set very low having a shim or different saddles for the seasonal changes is warranted.

 

[Muckman]

Thanks HM! I bought it b/c I had never seen one before and, honestly, I was on a bit of a Guild buying spree at the time. I was playing a lot of acoustic by myself the last couple of years and came across this at the right time. Now, some old projects are coming back around. I find myself playing more electric than I have been and, of course, picking up some new toys for my electric setup that I should fund by letting something go. When I play acoustic these days, I tend to reach for one of my dreads. It just seems to be the sound and body size I'm used to, so this guitar doesn't get played as much as it should.

Thanks for the tip, too! The shim makes sense. I try to combat the dry winters as well as I can with the case humidipacks and keeping the house humidified.

 

[richardp69]

Love the back on your F-50. Beautiful!!!! As a F 50 lover I am quite tempted. Don't wait on me but I may be back. Did you happen to ask Tom about the buzz you mentioned???

 

[Muckman]

Love the back on your F-50. Beautiful!!!! As a F 50 lover I am quite tempted. Don't wait on me but I may be back. Did you happen to ask Tom about the buzz you mentioned???

You can't hardly beat flame maple on a big jumbo! I have not talked to Tom about the buzz, I just noticed it this morning when I was taking pictures....and inevitably playing it for a half hour. I had it dropped a full step and used a capo on it most of the time I played it after getting it back, I'm sure that's why I didn't notice. May sound strange, but I do that with my maple G37 too. I like the lower tension + bigger strings on a brighter acoustic, then I just capo where needed. At this point, it's been months since I got it back and it's $100 each way to ship it.....if I keep it I'll just spot level it. That I can handle, I definitely wasn't going to try the refret myself with the binding on ebony, tho

 

[GGJaguar]

Nice "gateway" F-50 that will make someone happy. The dueling scar on the top adds mojo. Good luck with your sale!

 

[wileypickett]

Beauty!

The buzz could be caused by seasonal changes. Sometimes though, after new work and a set up, guitars need a "settling in" period. This may be what's happening here.

Since the buzz is at the nut end of the neck, shimming the saddle may not be the perfect solution. (Unless you REALLY raise the saddle, which will affect the overall action.)

Rather the slot for the low E string may be too low.

There are a couple work-arounds that will fix the problem -- from fitting the corner of a playing card between the nut and low E string; to using baking soda and super glue to fill the E string slot and filing a new slot not as deep; to replacing the nut altogether.

You may wish to let the next owner decide how to take care of it.

 

[Muckman]

Beauty!

The buzz could be caused by seasonal changes. Sometimes though, after new work and a set up, guitars need a "settling in" period. This may be what's happening here.

Since the buzz is at the nut end of the neck, shimming the saddle may not be the perfect solution. (Unless you REALLY raise the saddle, which will affect the overall action.)

Rather the slot for the low E string may be too low.

There are a couple work-arounds that will fix the problem -- from fitting the corner of a playing card between the nut and low E string; to using baking soda and super glue to fill the E string slot and filing a new slot not as deep; to replacing the nut altogether.

You may wish to let the next owner decide how to take care of it.

Thanks!
It had to have "settled". It's only buzzing when you fret the 1st fret on the low E. The E open is fine, 2nd fret on the E is fine and the A string is fine everywhere. It acts like a low spot on the 1st fret-only at the bass end of it. If I wind up keeping it, I'll just take a little height off of the 2nd fret-up until it's good, on the bass end of the board there. It has a bit more height than stock, I think they're about .044-.046. I've had a lot of practice leveling frets lately building partcaster teles with less expensive necks, some were pretty bad.....so I mean it when I say a lot of practice and cursing

 

[HeyMikey]

Talk to Tom Jacobs. He may have some suggestions as well. Curious, did you have him set it up for mediums and to be played one step down?

 

[wileypickett]

So it sounds like the second fret may be the problem. (You're pressing the low F, and the string is buzzing on the F# fret.)

What is unusual (at least in my experience) is that the buzzing is confined to just one spot on just one fret and no other strings played on the same fret are affected. When a fret is the culprit (and not the nut or sadde) I've seen buzzing that affected the wound strings but not the unwound strings (and vice versa) but I can't recall ever getting a buzz at the bottom end of the fretboard (on one fret, one string) unless the problem was with the nut.

You'd have noticed if the second fret is bent or not fully seated in its slot, yeah? Are there any grooves worn into the F fret?

 

[Muckman]

Talk to Tom Jacobs. He may have some suggestions as well. Curious, did you have him set it up for mediums and to be played one step down?

It has lights on it, the same gauge strings Tom put on it. The relief hasn’t changed since I got it back from him. I haven’t had an issue going from D to E tuning with any of my Guilds, as far as setup and action. I kind of rotate which dread o keep upstairs, when I put one away knowing I’m not going to play it for a while I will drop the strings down while it’s in the case to lighten the load on the neck joint.

 

[Muckman]

So it sounds like the second fret may be the problem. (You're pressing the low F, and the string is buzzing on the F# fret.)

What is unusual (at least in my experience) is that the buzzing is confined to just one spot on just one fret and no other strings played on the same fret are affected. When a fret is the culprit (and not the nut or sadde) I've seen buzzing that affected the wound strings but not the unwound strings (and vice versa) but I can't recall ever getting a buzz at the bottom end of the fretboard (on one fret, one string) unless the problem was with the nut.

You'd have noticed if the second fret is bent or not fully seated in its slot, yeah? Are there any grooves worn into the F fret?

We’re of the same opinion, on this Wiley. The second fret has to be a bit higher than the first where it buzzes. But, no…there is no bend in the second fret or any wear on the first. The frets look like brand new, all of them. I’ll put a caliper on it and verify. It acts like a low spot, odd on a brand new refret, but likely based on what it’s doing.

 

[Muckman]

 

[fronobulax]

This is a FS thread. I'd rather not find any more comments about the buzz in it. I will gladly start a new thread and copy since the info is worth preserving but not in the FS listing, please. Some of you know better.

 

[wileypickett]

This is a FS thread. I'd rather not find any more comments about the buzz in it. I will gladly start a new thread and copy since the info is worth preserving but not in the FS listing, please. Some of you know better.

Discussion seemed to speak to the condition of the guitar for sale, no?

 

[fronobulax]

This thread was copied from a FS/FT thread that had veered too much into how to fix a buzz. The original is at https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index.php?threads/1975-f50-maple-1800-plus-shipping.215862/ and that
has been edited to keep the focus on the instrument and not the buzz.

 

[fronobulax]

Discussion seemed to speak to the condition of the guitar for sale, no?

Not IMO. There are generic things to try and posters who did not seem to have read what went before. But the advice could apply to any guitar and not just this one that had already been worked on by Tom Jacobs.

Do not comment on the price, do not comment on why it's not selling, and do not comment on what you think is wrong with the ad. In short, do not comment in any way that could affect the outcome of the sale.

The FS/WTB forum is not for generic discussion: please don't veer here.